If you want to sell a good or service, or advertise for a job you want filled, Craigslist is a website you can use. Craigslist has specific sites for many North American cities, which is ideal because you can target a local audience. The significant complaint against Craigslist is the high degree of fraudulent listings on it, but you can still use the site effectively.

Local

One of the reasons for the success of Craigslist is its local approach. When you create a listing, you have the option of choosing the city on which your listing appears and you can even detail the specific area of the city. One of the drawbacks of global websites such as eBay is that buying anything large from a seller across the continent can be expensive and impractical.

Statistics

According to Web traffic site TrafficPillar, Craigslist is the 65th most-visited website on the Internet. This number alone speaks volumes to the site's effectiveness; while it does have its detractors, it's clear that people are visiting Craigslist in vast numbers. There are roughly 7 billion views of Craigslist pages each month by more than 20 million unique viewers.

Content

Although it's never fully possible to tell which Craigslist ads are legitimate and which are not, having the best content possible increases the effectiveness of your Craigslist posting. Make sure to provide as many details as possible, written in a clear, legible manner and include your business' website if you're posting for a business. The more information you can include in your add, the more its viewers will see that it's authentic. Your ad's title is also important, so make sure to give it a catchy, unique feel.

Quantity

Because there's such a significant degree of spam on Craigslist, you may occasionally have to post your listing numerous times so that people notice it. One listing isn't likely to get noticed as often as you might like, as it can easily fall through the cracks with all the spam and other content on the site. While you don't want to just relist your item over and over, try listing it in different sub-sections of Craigslist to reach different browsing audiences.

About the Author

Toronto-based journalist William McCoy has been writing since 1997, specializing in topics such as sports, nutrition and health. He serves as the Studio's sports and recreation section expert. McCoy is a journalism graduate of Ryerson University.